Category: Articles

Walking the talk on inclusive development, the Left government in Kerala is taking development to the tribal hinterland of Kerala. Edamalakkudy in Idukki is the sole tribal village panchayat in Kerala. The tribes there belong to the Muthuvan gothra. The area has known no development mainly because no roads lead to this place where 2400 people live in some 26 settlements known as a kudi. Hence, they lack other basic amenities like health centre, electricity, telecom facilities as well. The Kerala government is planning for a comprehensive development project to improve the lives of the residents there.

The 26 kudis (settlements) in Edamalakkudy are spread inside the deep forest with no road access. Even the closest kudis are separated by many kilometers. The people of Edamalakkudy have to travel great distances even for official needs. The panchayat office which is now several kilometers away from the village will be relocated to the area. (more…)

The plight of its Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is India’s shame. The most oppressed sections of our society remain the most neglected and discriminated people. While the oppression is inextricably linked to the inhumane caste system, the perpetuation of oppression occurs by means of socio-economic realities.

When it comes to human development, Kerala is a unique success story among Indian states. This holds true to a large extent even for the historically oppressed sections like Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Compared to the rest of India, social welfare indicators of Kerala’s SCs and STs are higher than the national indicators. In fact, the indicators of quality of life of Scheduled Castes in Kerala is higher than that of the general quality of life indicators of several other Indian states. But within the state, the economic status of the Scheduled Castes lags behind the General Category. Social indicators of the Schedule Tribes also trail behind that of the General Category. (more…)

Undoubtedly these are testing times for the underprivileged and marginalized in India. The scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes are facing caste based repression across the nation, owing to centuries old prejudices. The discriminations they undergo can be witnessed in universities, workspaces and streets even in this 21st century. Poverty, unemployment, resource crunch, landlessness and educational backwardness are distancing them from mainstream society. The Left Democratic Front has a thorough understanding of this predicament and has a clear perspective capable enough to eradicate this social evil, to bring the marginalized to the mainstream society.

Compared to the rest of India, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes in Kerala enjoy a better social position. However, the government has a clear understanding that complacency would not contribute to social progress. (more…)

The Government of Kerala is committed to protect the idea and culture of public education in the state. The state’s early initiatives in public as well as continuing education sectors have been extremely successful. The Total Literacy Programme, spearheaded by the Left Democratic Front Government in 1989, remains one of the most successful campaigns in the last 25 years that determined the destiny of Kerala. With a literacy rate of 93.94%, Kerala is currently the most literate state in India, whereas the national average is just 74%. With a focus on continuing education, the mission reached out to the most deprived of classes and transformed Kerala into a model state. Educators across the world have since been visiting the state’s institutions to study the much applauded public and continuing education system.

Literacy Programme for Migrant Labourers

The LDF Government in office takes it up as its responsibility to continue the literacy mission. In recent times, Kerala has become the most desired destination for migrant labourers, owing to the state’s better wage rates, infrastructure facilities and quality of life. (more…)

The Government have completed just 200 days in office. The decisions taken during this short period of time are not only innovative but also visionary.

The Government decisions have covered almost all important sectors including education, health, industry, IT, social security, agriculture, environment, youth, weaker sections and infrastructure. LDF Government have announced four mega missions which emphasis on people’s participatory approach to tackle issues concerning Housing, Environment and Agriculture, Health and Education. (more…)

To safeguard the interests of the common people, the Government of Kerala has designed innovative policies to be followed in the public health sector. The standard of health services in Kerala has reached an impressive level compared to the rest of the states in India, which is also on par with that of the developed world. The state had pioneered Universal Health Care Services in the country and its palliative care service has largely been applauded. Kerala is also the only state to have a formal palliative care policy in the country. Infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, death rate and birth rate are the lowest in Kerala compared to the national average. The mission and vision of the LDF government in office underscores that it does not wish the state to step down from the pedestal on which it stands right now.

Sustainable Development Goals — Kerala 2020

The LDF manifesto had promised quality healthcare to all citizens and the integrated health care policy of the government in design, targets a primary health care system that can provide quality service at a lesser cost. (more…)

Mankind has been reshaping Earth’s ecosystems for generations by large-scale conversion of natural habitats, and unsustainable utilization of bio-resources for food, water, timber, fiber, medicine, fuel etc. Globally ecosystems have undergone significant degradation with negative impacts on environment, biological diversity and peoples’ livelihoods. Cities consume 75% of natural resources and produce 50% of global waste accounting for 60- 80% of global GHG emissions. The once pristine natural habitats are being converted to monoculture plantations and about 75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost. In the last two centuries, humans have converted 70% of the grassland, 50% of the savannah, 45% of the temperate deciduous forest, and 27% of the tropical forest biome for agriculture. At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders recognized that desertification, land degradation and drought, were challenges affecting sustainable development. The recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals has set a target to “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss by 2020”. (more…)

The State government has formulated Haritha Keralam Mission with the slogan – Pachayiloode Vrithiyilekku (towards cleanliness through green”) aimed at creating a new Kerala. It is an effort to deal with some of the contemporary challenges the State is facing. The problem of solid and biodegradable waste has become grave to the extent of posing a major threat to the State. The rivers, streams and ponds which used to be abundant in water seems to be crying for water to quench their thirst. Contamination of water sources poses a big threat of the spread of infectious diseases.

Unplanned and haphazard construction activities, exploitation of nature have adversely affected living conditions. Along with toxic vegetables around, the picture of the challenges faced by environment in the State becomes clear. We will not be able to move forward on the path of development without addressing these challenges. (more…)

Offlate, frequent droughts, rapid outbreak of communicable diseases, increase in instances of cancer, infertility and birth deformities have been creating headlines in Kerala and it can be attributed to unscientific natural resource management, uncontrolled use of pesticides and improper waste disposal. Reckless waste management and indiscriminate use of pesticides have become reasons for water pollution, toxic elements like cadmium, mercury and arsenic present in batteries, tubelights, pesticides etc are carried into
water bodies by rain water resulting in destruction of useful micro-organisms and living organisms like fish. It is in this backdrop, Government have launched Haritha Keralam mission to undertake scientific and sustainable development activities, for restoration of Kerala’s green canopy and ecological balance by promoting water and soil conservation activities, organic farming and proper waste management. The Water Resource Department has been designated as the nodal department for drinking water and irrigation activities. Agriculture department has been named as the nodal department for supporting organic farming. The Suchitwa Mission under the Local Self Government department shall provide necessary support to the LSGI’s in management of waste. (more…)

The scholarly articles whereby learned environmentalists discussed this issue fall on us like a bolt from the blue because Kerala- ‘God’s own country’- has always been considered as a land of rivers. We might have never thought that water would slowly become a non renewable, scarce resource. It is high time that we realise the importance of utilising this precious resource in the most judicious manner.

In spite of the giant leaps we have made in various fields, Kerala society is still indifferent to conservation of nature, at large. Preservation of water and enrichment of resources were not given its due importance. (more…)

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Shri Pinarayi Vijayan has been elected in the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly elections held on 16th May 2016 from Dharmadom constituency with a margin of 36,905 votes.
He is a member of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Earlier he had served as Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI (M) from 1998 to 2015.